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Wednesday, August 5, 2015

GB readalong: Week 10

The Republic of Thieves read-along continues! Also, don't forget about the Thorn of Emberlain Giveaway**!

If you're just joining in, check out the intro post for the schedule and other details!

First of all, sorry for being really bad about posting stuff for the past week. I got a little behind on reading and then I had a mini-crisis where I couldn't get myself to write more posts because I felt like no one was reading them anyway. I guess 3 months is a long time to be excited about something, and then the news that Thorn of Emberlain release date got pushed back didn't help much.

But never fear, even if I only have one person reading along with me, the readalong will continue!

What we're reading this week

Republic of Thieves | Ch3-5 (not including the interludes after Ch5)

Recap from last week

Flashbacks:
Baby Locke is infatuated with Beth and devastated when she is murdered. He's even more shocked when he finds out the mysterious Sabetha that everyone has been talking about is his Beth, very much alive and the only "gentle-lady bastard". We see Chains pit Locke against his worst fear: a situation he cannot win. We also see a showdown between Sabetha and Locke in Coin-kisser's row.

Present Day:
Jean leaves no rock unturned in his quest for a cure for Locke's poison. Locke has resigned himself to die. Then Patience shows up and promises a bondsmagi cure in exchange for help rigging an election. Some mysterious conversations follow.

Observations/Theories/Questions

How happy were you that we got to see Calo and Galdo again??

In case you couldn't tell, I was very, very happy.

The first time I read The Republic of Thieves, I was very pleasantly surprised to find out that the flashbacks would include two beloved characters I never thought I'd see again. I have now discovered that all odd-numbered books in the series will have flashbacks, so maybe there's even more Calo, Galdo, and maybe Bug in the future!

Food for thought:

So...Sabetha: We finally meet Sabetha, albeit only in the past. We find out that Locke basically fell in love with her the second he met her in Shade's Hill. I like that Sabetha is smart and maybe even better than Locke at conning people. It's fun to see Locke outwitted sometimes, especially since we've seen him think he's the cleverest person ever for two books now. My feelings on present-day Sabetha are mixed, but I do like past-Sabetha. What is your first impression of Locke's mysterious lady-love?

The red hair: In Lies of Locke Lamora, everyone and their mother was teasing Locke about his thing for women with red hair. Well, one woman in particular. And we definitely see baby Locke fixating on her red curls, and getting excited when the red roots start to show through the dye later on. Either that thing Patience says at the end of the book is actually true, or she's just really, really good at spouting believable BS.

The un-winnable situation: I personally love Father Chains and his no-nonsense way of raising the Gentleman Bastards (remember the magic words: "bullshit-proof"). I appreciate that he tricked Locke into "getting Sabetha killed" because it really is a valuable lesson to learn that you can't win every battle (never more true after the end of Red Seas...phew!). But do you think he went too far? Do you think a less extreme situation might have done it, or did Locke need to have his heart utterly crushed? Do you even think he learned his lesson?

Oh, the irony of "I WILL NEVER LOSE AGAIN!" after he gets screwed over by both Stragos and Requin.